Ashen Witch
by Lime Flavored Bubbles
Summary: Once apon a time, there was a girl. All she wanted in life was to help others but yet one by one, her friends died until she was alone with a wizard. The wizard was weak his magic leaving him. They were the only ones left and soon, only she would be there. They sat and watched as the world burned. The gods felt pity, so they sent her back to the start of it all. This is that story.
1. Beginning

_**Once apon a time, there was a girl called Ruby Rose.**_

_**She was a bright and honest young girl.**_

_**All she aspired for in life was to help others.**_

_**But things change, She discovered from an undying wizard that her eyes held power that others did not and that there were forces of darkness beyond her control.**_

_**She wished to fight them for the people who already sacrificed themselves.**_

_**So she fought.**_

_**Again and again, wins and fails.**_

_**But when she lost, it was more than just a battle.**_

_**One by one, her friends died.**_

_**Until she was alone with the wizard.**_

_**The wizard was weak, his magic leaving him from many thousands of years of battle.**_

_**They sat and watched as the world burned.**_

_**Ruby's eyes once glistening sliver were broken ashen grey now.**_

_**They were the only ones left and soon, only Ruby would be there.**_

_**The wizard offered ruby his power.**_

_**Because she alone was the only one who could have it.**_

_**As the wizard died ruby wept, as she was the only one left.**_

_**The gods felt pity, so they sent Ruby back to the start with new power.**_

_**And so this is the beginning of the new story.**_

_**[ OF THE ASHEN WITCH ]**_

_**. . .**_

Ruby opened her eyes. She was back at the start before the torment and torture she went through. She didn't despise it that much, it made her who she was. It felt more unpleasant to be back.

She studied at the weaponry posters on her walls and the messy plans and homework on her desk, the mirror on her wall that showed her broken eyes that would never sparkle again. She was home, but it wasn't her home.

Her home was beacon 2.0 the school Ozma had made with her, where they had trained future huntsman to fight and sent them out to war. Her home was the magic forest that she explored with Blake before she had become a traitor. Her home was the battlegrounds she fought on with Yang before she burned with the rest of the world. Her home was the lab she and Weiss made to make new resources before Weiss was slain in cold blood, that was her home. Not here.

Ruby looked at the grey box in front of her, it was seemingly the power the gods had given her. They seemed to be the type of person to grant that kind of power.

**The power entrusted to you [ADMIN ROSE], has been determined to be the gamer. The name is mostly self-explanatory. By willing the menu, you can bring up your options.**

She would have to change quickly. Ruby knew that it was right before she started signal. Because of the homework on her desk and the lack of crescent rose by her side. She only had two years to improve before beacon then.

She willed the menu to come up.

**[STATS]**

**[SKILLS]**

**[AFFINITIES]**

She had to know how powerful this body was. She didn't want a weak body. That was one of her worst concerns, so she checked her strength.

**Ruby Rose**

**Title: The Gamer**

**Rank: [ADMIN]**

**Level - 8**

**Exp: [0/240]**

**HP - 100 /100 (+2.5/min)**

**MP - 480/480 (+24/min)**

**AP - [LOCKED]**

**STR - 9**

**VIT - 10**

**DEX - 13**

**INT - 12**

**WIS - 13**

**LUK - 5**

**POINTS - 0**

**MONEY - 10**

**SEMBLANCE: [LOCKED]**

**PERKS:**

**SILVER EYES [RANK 1] **_\- You have not awakened your silver eyes yet._

_you have Innate Purity Affinity_

**TRUE MAGE [RANK 1]**_ \- You have genuine magic but do not know how to control it._

_Unlocks MP_

_Unlocks affinity menu_

**SKILLS:**

**Gamer's body (lvl MAX)** _\- You won't die unless you run out of HP, no matter how serious the wound._

**Sound Mind (lvl MAX)** \- _You've done and seen so much that your mind is remarkably hard to trick._

**Infused Power (lvl MAX)**_ \- Your powers are ingrained in you from training. You dont have to think when using them. It's natural for you._

Ruby growled, she was good at magic and using her eyes. Leave it up to gods to take away her experience. She conceded it was a fair trade for going back in time but it seemed insulting to her. At least she wouldn't feel odd using them.

Ruby looked at the time _6:34._ At this age, Ruby normally slept in till 7:30, at least. She decided she would use the time to exercise and maybe make her weak body better. She would also have to study some more. Her stats were so low!

Ruby went to the door listening for any noises outside. Yang was not up. Ruby could tell because of the loud, incessant snoring coming from the hall.

Ruby gently opened the door, peering into the hallway. No one was there. Ruby tiptoed into the hall, quietly closing the door behind her. Ruby crept to the stairs and listened for more noise. Nothing. Either her dad was remarkably quiet, which was a possibility because he was a huntsman, or he was asleep. Ruby placed her bet on the latter one. Her father was very lazy and would never get up until he has too.

Ruby still walked down the stairs carefully. She peeked into the kitchen. No one was there. That meant dad was still asleep unless he was watching tv. Which he wasn't because there was no noise coming from the living room.

Ruby bolted out the door, giggling like a mad man while doing a little dance.

***DING* New Skill - Stealth**

_'The better you get, the more you'll get away with!'_

Ruby danced a little more when she saw the notification before she composed herself.

After thinking for a moment, Ruby formulated an exercise plan. 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, 2 laps around the forest, and then if she gets exhausted, she can just take a break for a moment!

**For thinking out a good workout plan, you gain 1 INT!**

Sweet!

Ruby started exercising but got tired fast, so she had to stop a lot, but she gained a lot of points. Ruby worked out for about 30 minutes.

**For working out hard, you gained 1 STR (x3)**

**For running hard, you gained 1 DEX (x7)**

**For working out more than usual, you gained 1 VIT (x2)**

Ruby grinned at the abundance of notifications. A job well done, she'd say, one step closer to saving humanity. She checked the time on her scroll, it was about 7:00 am now.

Ruby walked back home from the forest she was training in. She went into the kitchen, where her bleary-eyed dad stood. Ruby had missed him when he died in the war, she still did. Ruby giggled as her dad almost ran into her, "Woah," he started "Didn't see you there, rubes!" Ruby smiled "Yeah, you almost plowed me over!" he smiled. "What are you even doing up this early," he asked, "schools not for another hour." Ruby laughed nervously "Well, I wanted to train some, for you know," she smiled "Signal?" Her dad beamed, "So you finally decided that you're going to signal?" Ruby nodded before explaining, "While the other hunter schools in vale are nice, they're well..." she paused, "Not homey, i guess?" her dad smiled, "I totally understand rubes." Ruby hugged him then quickly left to her room.

While ruby hated studying, it was essential for her. How high her intelligence meant how much MP she had and she was a witch so she had to have lots of it. Also, she wanted to one-up Weiss when she met her.

Ruby studied for another 30 mins before Yang knocked on her door telling her breakfast was ready. Ruby was proud of what she'd done so far, she had gotten 6 INT and 2 WIS by the end.

Ruby climbed down the stairs and saw the two grinning blonds eating breakfast. "Hey!" Ruby said enthusiastically, dad just grinned at her and continued eating his eggs. "Yo," Yang replied, "Heard you finally decided to go to signal with me, right?" Ruby nodded, "Yeah, it just wouldn't be right if i didn't!" Yang smirked, "Aww!" she cooed "My baby sisters all grown up!" "Shut up, yang." Ruby pouted, "I'm not a baby you know?" Yang just laughed. "Anyways I'm hanging out with my friends today," yang stated, "Make the best of the rest of the summer you know?" Dad nodded, "Just make sure you stay safe." He reiterated as he always did, "I know, i know" Yang grumbled, "Don't have to tell me every time!" Ruby Giggled.

Soon, we all cleared out of the kitchen, Yang going to go hang out with her friends and dad getting groceries. Ruby was left to herself.

Ruby wandered back to the forest, intending to train some more. What she really needed to train was her magic.

Ruby sat in the middle of a clearing she found. Meditating and feeling her soul. It was easier without aura hindering it.

***DING* New Skill - Meditating **_\- By focusing on your soul you find yourself regenerating faster._

Ruby enjoyed the thought of a healing skill or any regeneration spell in general. She really didn't want to die or let others die, she had let that happen to many times before.

It hurt her to see her loved ones die. It really did. But she kept having to have a smile because that's who she was. She smiled till it was only her and Ozma left before it was only her and the abyss of a place once called remnant, in the birthplace of humanity.

The Darkness. The Cold. The Monsters. The Gods. Stuck there. At that place.

_**The Origin...**_


	2. Training and Tasing

Ruby smiled. She had been training for about four months now. Signal started in two weeks and she improved a lot. Her stats were getting higher too.

Ruby opened her stats, smiling at her hard work.

**Ruby Rose**

**Title: Future Gambler**

**Rank: [ADMIN]**

**Level - 11**

**Exp [12/333]**

**HP - 240/240 (+6/min)**

**MP - 1040/1040 (+52/min)**

**AP - 920/920 (+46/min)**

**STR - 21**

**VIT - 24**

**DEX - 27**

**INT - 26**

**WIS - 23**

**LUK - 13 (+50%)= 19.5**

**POINTS - 15**

**MONEY - 41**

**SEMBLANCE: [LOCKED]**

**PERKS:**

**SILVER EYES [RANK 1] **_\- You have not awakened your silver eyes yet._

_you have Innate Purity Affinity_

**TRUE MAGE [RANK 2] **_\- You have true magic but you're not very good at using it._

_Unlocks MP_

_Unlocks affinity menu_

**SKILLS:**

**Gamer's body (lvl MAX)**_ \- You won't die unless you run out of HP no matter how serious the wound._

**Toughened Mind (lvl MAX) **_\- You've been through so much and seen so much that your emotions are dulled and nothing can fool your mind._

**Trained Power (lvl MAX) **_\- Your powers are ingrained in you from training. You dont have to think when using them, it's natural to you._

**Stealth (Lvl 26) **_\- 'The better you get the more you get away with!'_

**Meditating (Lvl 47)**_ \- By focusing on your soul you find yourself regenerating faster._

**Bladed weapons**_ \- You can cut, kill and cream but only in close range._

_Sythe (Lvl 6)_

_Sword (Lvl 17)_

_Daggar (Lvl 21)_

**Gunnmanship **_\- Long-range weapons, baby!_

_Pistol (Lvl 15)_

_Sniper (lvl 4)_

**Weapon Smithing (Lvl 80)**_ \- If you can make it you can kill it._

**TITLES: **

**Future Gambler**_ \- You've been to the arcade and used up your money many times so now you're seen as a little gambler._

_50% increase in LUK_

She had been practicing to make her weapon and use them, she also found out she could gain LUK points by gambling. It was also, honestly, very slow. She endured it though, LUK was an important stat.

Ruby intended to not make Cresent Rose for her weapon, it had served her well before it broke. Though it didn't serve as well as her next weapon, Rose Beacon. She often called it RB. Rose Beacon was, well, a super big Sythe/Dual Odachi/Sniper! The thing was huge! It was huge when she was older and bigger! The monster was around 279 cm in sythe form and around 231 cm long in sword form. it's blades serrated. Its blade was all red but the tip was green and the body was black. It was also really heavy so ruby guessed she'd have to up her STR a bit.

Ruby Loved RB. It was a lean, mean, killing machine, but it also reminded her of her friends and family. Weiss made a unique dustcasting system for it. Blake helped make the sword forms and Yang helped make her other weapons.

She had two other weapons alongside RB.

The first was Thorn Bush, her gauntlets. She had modeled them off Yangs but instead of running off dust and having an automatic shot, hers used magic and physics to run. Air was pulled through gaps and turned into force pushing bullets out at almost Mach 3. It also looked cool. It had attached fingerless gloves with a knuckle plate along with the actual gauntlet. Both were black but the knuckle plate and some parts of the gauntlet were gold and red.

The last weapon she had was Broken Flower, a pistol/dagger combination. The dagger was flat, two-sided and had a vivid pink blade with a black handle. Ren had made it for her.

She would have to level up her smithing skill before making them, she wanted to make them perfect. That would take a long time but Ruby felt it was needed for the weapons to be great!

Ruby had decided weeks ago to go to choose different electives from the last time at Signal. While getting hands-on experience in the skills she use to have. She could do it on her own now. Yesterday she had finally decided to take Stealth and Subterfuge, Acrobatics 101 and Hand to Hand Combat. The last one surprised Yang a lot.

Ruby was improving fast. Last time she went to Signal she was terrible at everything huntress related. She had to get tutoring and help because she was so bad. She had been weaker than some civilians at first. Ruby thought it was because her dad never let her train until she had decided to go to Signal, which was right before the application deadline. Her stats were low when she came to the beginning and they still were now. She could tell she was weaker than a lot of hunters-in-training.

BAM. CRASH. "OWWWWWWWWWW!" ZAP.

Ruby brought herself out of her thought at the series of sounds. Ruby quietly laughed. She could tell it was Yang by her yell. That would teach her to knock before trying to come in.

Ruby had made a delayed circuit thing and it made an overpowered shock door. the circuit also opened a claw over her door that held a metal bucket.

"IT DIDN"T HURT THAT MUCH YANG. YOU HAVE AURA!" the whining from the other side of the door stopped "Oh!" Yang yelled, "Right I forgot again!" Ruby facepalmed, Yang could be so dumb sometimes. Ruby bet if she could see Yang's stats that her INT would be below 30.

"Anyways, Rubes!" Yang yelled from the other side of the door "Dinner's gonna be ready soon." Ruby groaned.

Her dad and Yang were getting more troublesome. While she loved them, they kept interfering with her training time. She needed to be stronger, better, more adaptable and they couldn't see that, she reminded herself. They couldn't know. They would never go through what she did, she had vowed that when she had been offered to go back. She wasn't here to save the world; she wasn't here to be a hero. The only thing she was here for is her family. She didn't care if she had to be the villain to protect them. She had already taken lives, taken souls from people to become stronger and, in this life, she intended to do the same. She only cared for the people close to her now. She wasn't the little girl she was before.

***DING* New Affinity - Fate**

***DING* New Affinity - Origin**

***DING* New Affinity - End**

That, Ruby decided, was super creepy. Who gets those three affinities all at once? Especially after thinking what she had been thinking. It felt like creepy foreshadowing.

Ruby bolted down the stairs, her stealth skill padding her footsteps. Ruby came upon the scene of people eating. "HEY!" she yelled, "Why are you eating without me?" Both blonds just shrugged nervously. Ruby had been considered to be the woman of the household by the blonds. She made both blonds eat good meals, not stay up late and overall be more healthy. Ruby was proud of herself for improving their lives.

Ruby simply wanted to make her friends and family happy and for them to live.

Ruby felt she might be a bit messed up. She was paranoid and a bit nervous all the time. Her old behavior was brought to a minimum thankfully because both her new and old soul were combined making her new personality.

She found her personality odd. She was paranoid, childish, strong-willed and socially awkward.

At least she wasn't a depressed mess like last time.

Ruby rolled her eyes at herself she knew she was still depressed but she wasn't a mess.

Okay, she was still a mess too.

"Ruff!" Ruby smiled. Zwei had been cuddling with her more lately. She enjoyed it. It made her forget the last life like she wasn't the grizzled war veteran. Like she wasn't alone anymore. It helped her feel alive again...

But she wasn't. She would never heal. Her broken eyes were proof of that.

Ruby smiled and the eating blonds. At least it would never happen to them. Ruby sat down at the table and served herself. "Hey, Rubes?" Yang muttered. "Yeah?" "Are you ok?" Ruby blinked aa quizzical look on her face. "Why do you ask?" "Well..." Yang started "You've been looking kind of depressed lately" Ruby sighed "Yang I'm fine!" "Okay! Okay!" Yang stammered "I'm just worried for you, Rubes. You can tell me anything. I'm your big sister"

But Ruby couldn't. She could only internalize it. She couldn't tell anyone, not even Ozma. Especially Ozma. She only had herself. The broken little girl that had killed everyone with her foolish actions. She had become a hero as she had dreamed as a child. But at the biggest price.

Ruby thought heroes were worthless. They all got themselves killed. They were selfless, yes, but they were all weak. They let their emotions get ahold of them and got themselves killed at the first mentions of saving someone. She was once like that. She was once so selfless.

But Ruby was not selfless now. In fact, she was selfish. She would burn the world to save her family and friends. Only they mattered. Other people didn't. They were worthless. She didn't want to be a huntress to help people, she was going to make connections and meet her old friends.

Ruby knew their friendships would be different. Everything would change. Ruby had already made alterations in the timeline. She had gotten stronger, faster, smarter; she was better than before. She was different.

But they were all family. They were hers and only hers. She would not let anyone touch them. Never again.

**NEVER WOULD ANYONE TOUCH THOSE SHE LOVED**

**AND SHE WOULD MAKE SURE OF THAT**

**ANYONE WHO TOUCHED THEM WOULD DIE**

**BY THE HANDS OF THE ASHEN WITCH**


	3. Little Rose

Ruby huffed up her chest. Signal started today. And while Ruby had only leveled up some of her skills, she felt somewhat accomplished.

She may not be better than most Hunters, in training or not, but she wasn't a complete mess. It made her a little happy.

Her mood was improving but she was still somewhat sad most of the time. She wished she could express her, albeit small, joy for that. She might be a broken doll of a person forever, but at least she could fix some part of herself.

She felt odd to be feeling positive. It might have been her younger soul's influence, she conceded.

Oh god, she sounded like Ozma now! Ruby unintentionally scrunched up her nose. Eww! She wasn't old! She was a feisty young woman. She had been 26 years old when she was sent back. Physically anyway.

She wasn't at all like Ozma. He was just a weirdo that was interested in silver-eyed little girls. Seriously, he was freaky. Ruby wished she was more cautious last time around. She wouldn't put it past that creep to have watched her since she was born. She never would understand how she had become such really good friends with him. Probably being the only two humans in the world for thousands of years does that.

She smiled sadly. Maybe he was a creepy old man, but he's still family. She had cried for days when he had died. And not just because she was alone. Only family mattered, she reminded herself.

Some people may think she was bitchy and rude for only caring about her family. But say that to the citizens who rioted because 'Huntsmen couldn't protect them well enough.' People were on the verge of war and resources were short and they knew that. Yet they felt entitled to use precious dust for lights! Cooking! Stupidity! Those stupid fucking citizens and their small brains. She blamed them for what happened to Weiss. Those people. Those things, they weren't even people now! Just deadweights. Oum, she couldn't understand them! They. Were. Just. So. Stupid. She would like to go and kill them all if it wouldn't cause world inbreeding. Inbreeding would be a serious problem. She didn't want her descendants to look like pugs.

Ruby scowled at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair had gotten longer all of a sudden it seemed. It was now down to her shoulders and a lot more red. It looked weird! She wanted to cut it, but at the same time, she didn't! It was just so frustrating! Why? Why did she have to be so indecisive? It was yet another thing she got from old Ruby's soul. Old her sucked, she had realized. So she just ended up putting her hair in a ponytail.

Ruby put on her new uniform. Signal's uniform was easily customizable. Ruby had gone with what she had done in her last life, except there were a few things she changed just a bit. For one, she had made the tie a deep forest green. The jacket was black with gold outlines and the skirt was deep crimson. Ruby wore the optional thigh high socks, but unlike most of the socks, hers were striped black and white. She also had the basic shiny black shoes and the white blouse all the other students would have. She liked her uniform.

Ruby went downstairs. Her dad was cooking breakfast and Yang was sitting at the table with her own uniform on. It was like Ruby's but the skirt and tie were yellow and she didn't have socks. It suited her.

"Hey, Rubes." Yang grinned, "Excited for Signal?" Yang ruffled Ruby's hair. Ruby smiled and felt her personality shift to younger ruby in response to her sister, "Yep, super-duper excited!" Young Ruby, or little Rose as she had come to call her, had been more active recently with nothing around to harm her.

Dad turned around and placed the bacon and waffles that he made on the table. "Eat up, Rubes." He smiled, "you'll need a lot of energy for your first day!" little Rose pouted, "I already have enough energy, I don't need more!" Yang nodded, "You said it, sis!"

Ruby quickly finished her breakfast, eager to get to Signal. Yang quickly followed suit. "Well, we're off!" Ruby said excitedly before sprinting out the door. "Wait up, Rubes!" Yang yelled before running after her.

After a bit of running, they got to Signal. "The student orientation thing is over here," Yang told her as she headed to a big door.

They found a big hall, much like the one when she went to Beacon. To be honest Ruby didn't remember much about Signal. With what happened at Beacon and her lack of any good friends here, she didn't seem to have much to remember. All she had done at Signal was train and study. Some had thought she was a prodigy because she was just a natural or something. But it was all hard work. Most people at Signal had viewed her as a child who did nothing to get her skill, but she worked more than they ever did.

She was weaker than they ever were. Yet she became strong. She wasn't going to be weak like them. This time she would work even harder than ever before. She wouldn't let things happen the same way. She had survived but they hadn't. It was all her fault and now she had to fix it. She couldn't feel guilty now. They have to survive. Nothing would stop her from saving them this time.

Ruby blinked. Signal's headmaster was walking to the front of the auditorium. He gave the usual boring school speech and we all went around to meet our new teachers. Ruby went straight to the teaches for her electives. The hand to hand combat teacher, Mrs. Wheat, wasn't very interesting. The acrobatics teacher, Mr. Gem, was even more boring. The subterfuge and stealth teacher though, Jingle, as she called herself was a bit annoying. It was the same with the rest of them. Normal teachers. Nothing special to see here.

Ruby stretched, arching her back like a cat. Over her years with Blake, she had gotten more cat-like. If she met Blake now, she guessed she would be more cat-like than even her. Blake had gotten more feral over the years because of the war, or something else. Ruby didn't know. Of course, that was before the cat became a traitor. She had trusted her. Ruby understood why she did it though. She wanted to protect us, but all she did was get used and killed. That idiot.

Ruby couldn't worry about last time right now. Things wouldn't be like that. No one would have to sacrifice anything for her. She could do this. She could fix this.

Ruby went over to the reception desk to find her dorm room. The room system was like Beacons, but there were separate dorms for each gender, hallelujah for that. While Ruby had an all-girls team, others weren't. They were all teenagers too. You can guess what happened.

Her dorm room was 12B. Ruby rushed to her dorm, wanting to call dibs on her chosen space. She skidded to a stop in front of the door before using her scroll to unlock it. She looked at each of the beds. They were evenly spaced with two on each wall. She chose the furthest one on the left. Ruby pushed her bed into the corner. Taking out the luggage she packed the night before, she started hanging various posters on the walls. She had gotten dad to let her get some stuff for her room. So these posters were, for once, not of weapons or bands.

These were posters of the Grimm. Ones she had drawn herself. She had somehow maxed her drawing skill while working on her weaponsmithing, so she just made some custom posters with Grimm on them that near nobody had ever seen. Of course, she had seen them in that place.

The first was of a shark Grimm called Clypso, that was a myth for most people. The thing was huge and could eat ships whole, it had ripped fins and tons of bone spikes. Thankfully it lives in the deepest sea. The second was of Crocoidlie/dog mix Grimm called a Crokog. It had the long snout and teeth of a crocodile and the ears and fur of the dog, its body was a mixture of both though. The last poster was of the fox Grimm that Ruby had named Kyin. Its figure was long and wiry, its skinny snout in a permanent feral grin. The claws that seemed to be longer than its fingers, and those eyes. Those eyes were icy blue, unlike other Grimm. Ruby shivered at the thought and started to rub her left cheek. A Kyin had fought her once. It was a close fight and it had clawed her cheek before she killed it. That scar she had gotten had always been a reminder that she was not strong enough. She didn't have the scar now but did not need it. She would be strong.

Ruby stared at the three posters in front of her. The Clypso eating the ship. The boney Crokog eating a deer. The Kyin with blue eyes staring down at you as it prepares to kill you. They were cool looking but quite a bit creepy.

Ruby liked them.

Ruby put her clothes in her closet and put her Grimm plush on her bed. She was done decorating! She looked at her corner and nodded. It was fit for living.

She would like it here.

Well, maybe.


End file.
